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Create a Lean, Mean Safety Machine Shop

Setting things in order or establishing a place for everything reduces the likelihood of workers falling over poorly located tools and injuries incurred from tools not being safely secured.

You probably hear a lot about lean manufacturing and how to reap its benefits. However, you may not realize that lean manufacturing impacts workplace safety. For example, the 5S system of workplace organizing includes sorting out unneeded items, which results in fewer items to lift, move and store in a safe manner. Also, fewer items are damaged over time, leading to safer conditions.

Total productive maintenance requires repairing unsafe machine condition as soon as they are discovered. Other lean manufacturing examples of safety stem from standardized work practices, quick change-over, batch reduction and more. To learn more about lean manufacturing and safety, read “The Lean Workplace—a Safer Place to Work.”

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